


A Very Lucky Day

by junko



Category: Bleach
Genre: Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-31
Updated: 2013-07-31
Packaged: 2017-12-22 00:39:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/906861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/junko/pseuds/junko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In fulfillment of an anonymous request on the <a href="http://bleachkinkmeme.dreamwidth.org/363.html">Dreamwidth's Bleach Kink Meme</a> for Ikkaku/Yumichika hurt/comfort:  "Yumichika tending to Ikkaku's wounds after a training session. Fluff happens. That's it."</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Very Lucky Day

**Author's Note:**

> No spoilers for current arc. Takes place pre-Ichigo, when Renji Abarai is still Sixth Seat in the Eleventh Division and training with Ikkaku.

It was a good thing Yumichika found suffering attractive, because whenever Ikkaku felt “lucky,” it usually ended in intensive care at the Fourth Division

Even so, Yumichika’s heart was in his throat when their Sixth Seat, Renji Abarai, came rushing up to him looking… guilty and stammering about a possible concussion and more than a little worrisome bleeding. “I… uh, look, I wouldn’t worry about senpai, but head injuries, you know?”

Yumichika nodded as he gathered up the usual supplies. “He blacked out?”

“I might have decided the only advantage with two distance weapons was to come in fast and hard and give ‘im a smack upside the head,” Abarai seemed both proud and embarrassed of having had this momentary advantage. “I guess he really wasn’t expecting it and his head snapped back, wham! He hit a boulder. Of course, so did my knuckles,” he shook out his bruised and swollen hand, and continued, “But yeah, senpai went down like a sack o’ bricks. And… uh, he didn’t wake up.”

This was serious.

Yumichika glanced around to see who might overhear them. Seeing no one, he grabbed Abarai’s collar and pulled him close. “Get a medic from the Fourth. But, for fuck sake be discrete.”

Abarai’s eyes went wide, the tattoos on his eyebrows making him look almost comical. “Right! Right away, sir.”

“Oi!” Yumichika said giving Abarai a shake, and hissed, “Discretion! Do you even know what that means?”

“Uh… Be quiet about it?” Abarai actually seemed to need Yumichika to confirm, so he gave a little nod. Abarai smiled weakly, “Yeah… yeah, sure. I can do that.”

Gods, why did it have to be Abarai? The whole Seireitei was going to know about this. “Just… don’t let the captain see you go, okay?”

If there was one thing Abarai could do right, it was shunpō. He was gone in a flash.

#

 

Yumichika found Ikkaku in the usual isolated drinking/training ground in the forests of Sōkyoku Hill he favored for such clandestine activities. A circle of large stones formed a natural arena. Only scrub grass grew between them and anything green had long since been trampled and turned to dust by dozens of ferocious practice battles.

When Yumichika poked his head through the gap, his heart nearly stopped. Slumped against a blood-spattered stone lay Ikkaku, his uniform in tatters, chewed to bits by the ugly, ragged teeth of that fang-toothed blade of Abarai’s. A nasty, still bleeding rip marred his shoulder, but more horrifying was the way his head lolled to the side and the loose way his arms and legs splayed, like a ragdoll.

 _This_ , he thought, his blood running cold, _could be it. This could be the day he finally lost him._

Yumichika sprinted the distance and knelt beside Ikkaku looking for signs of life. His breath came out in shuddering relief when he felt a strong, steady pulse. Alive, at least. But, how long had he been out? Fingertips, shaking with worry, brushed the strong, angled line of Ikkaku’s jaw.

Ikkaku’s reaction was immediate. His left hand shot up, still holding the sheath of Hozukimaru. Yumichika blocked and caught it easily. Gently, he urged Ikkaku’s hand back down, “Shhh,” he whispered, “The fight is over. Be still, my love.”

Ikkaku cracked open an eye, and Yumichika sucked in a breath in shock at his own words. Why had he said: “My love?” Of course he’d _thought_ that a thousand times, but had been very, very careful to never say anything out loud. 

They were lovers, but they’d never, ever talked about being _in love_.

Ikkaku’s cracked lips turned up into lopsided grin. His pupils were blown either from the concussion or the pain, as he asked, “Did I win?”

“Hmmm,” Yumichika wrinkled his nose at the blood everywhere and turned his attention to unpacking supplies and bandaging Ikkaku’s shoulder. “You were lucky. You lived.”

Ikkaku lifted his head a little to watch Yumichika’s work. He shifted a bit and their faces were close, close enough to kiss. After a long moment, he murmured, “Love, huh?”

Yumichika tried not to blush. He fluttered his lashes dismissively, “I thought you were passed out.”

“Maybe your love brought me back.”

Was that sarcastic? Yumichika tugged tightly on the bandage he was wrapping, making Ikkaku grunt. “It’s a good thing a medic is on the way,” Yumichika said dryly. “You must be delirious.”

“Nah, I’m serious, Yumi-kun,” Ikkaku said, his lips close to Yumichika’s ear. Hot breath sent shivers down Yumichika’s spine. “I think maybe I came back from the dead for you.”

“Ikkaku darling, you’re already dead,” Yumichika said, deftly tying off the bandage, trying to keep his hands from trembling. He kept his eyes averted too, afraid that any emotion in Ikkaku’s gaze would completely undo him… and then this lifelong charade of being a simple, easy fuck buddy would be over. The last thing Yumichika wanted was to ruin what they’d had for centuries by adding unnecessary… complications. “The only thing you’re coming back from is Abarai’s left uppercut.”

“Bastard,” Ikkaku agreed. 

Yumichika nodded absently as he continued the familiar ritual of clean and bind wounds.

“I still think, you know…” he coughed little and said, “Love wouldn’t suck.”

Yumichika almost choked. Finally, he had to look at Ikkaku’s face. It was clear he was suffering from a concussion, what with his pupils like that, but… there was that private little smile, the one Yumichika loved so much, and an open, vulnerability to his expression that nearly broke Yumichika’s heart wide open. He put a hand on Ikkaku’s bald head. “Do you have a headache? Do you feel like you might barf?”

Yumichika glanced over his shoulder. Where was Abarai with that damn medic?

“Why the hell won’t you take me seriously?” Ikkaku demanded, swiping at Yumichika’s hand. “I love you, already! Is that some kind of fucking crime?”

“Try to calm down,” Yumichika said. “Help is coming.”

Wrapping his good arm around Yumichika’s neck, Ikkaku pulled him into a kiss. It wasn’t their usual prelude to sex. His lips were soft, tentative, exploratory… like… almost like they were coming together for the first time. But, the first time had been so, so long ago. Yet Yumichika’s breath was sucked from his lungs with the tenderness of it. Then, tongue darted in—hungry, hopeful, but not with the kind of urgency that lead straight to sex, more… passionate.... deeper.

Yumichika wondered: was this what love tasted like? Like a promise? Sweet and light and so rich?

When they parted, Ikkaku’s fingers stayed entwined in Yumichika’s hair. “You believe me now, you ninny?”

Yumichika laughed lightly, lips going back to steal another taste of sweet, sweet love. “I do. But, you still need to see a nurse.”

Ikkaku’s wicked smile came back and he tugged sharply at Yumichika’s hair, “Why don’t you just put on one of those cute little uniforms and fuss over me?”

“After,” Yumichika dropped his lids seductively, and ran a finger along the contours of Ikkaku’s blood soaked chest. “Recover first.”

“Promise?”

A breeze ruffled Yumichika’s uniform, signaling the arrival of the medic. Before they came to take Ikkaku to the Fourth, Yumichika stole a final kiss, “If you want.”

“Hmmmm,” Ikkaku murmured happily, lasciviously, “I always want.”

As Yumichika stepped out of the way to let the medics take over, he stared at the familiar features of his lover in a new light. Even if this turned out to be rambling concussed nonsense, it was, for Yumichika at least, a very lucky day.


End file.
